User blog:Meta07/My Top 7 Animes
Just because I suddenly feel like it... :P Also, some words of cautions: *I only like the most lighthearted kind of animes possible. That's it, moe, slice-of-life animes. *I hate violence, so most animes I watch and like either have no violence at all, or just very little or gag violence. *I'm absolutely scared of horror. *Also, sorry very much but I'm terrible at literature so... So, here we go...! #7 - Hidamari Sketch (Studio: Shaft) 'Moe Anime of Art' Hidamari Sketch is a moe anime about four students living in the same dormitory, and they are all specialized in Art. Being an anime about Art, it uses stylized art a lot, and whether it's a good or bad thing... depends. Also, I must admit I have only watched a few episodes of this one (out of its grand total of 50+ episodes :S) so I may not have a fair review. *'What I like about it:' Like any good moe anime, it has its fair share of cuteness, funny and heartwarming moments. Plus, the characters are believable, distinctive and good enough (save for Miyako who I think is just a bit Too Dumb to Live, but even she's not a bad character). Also, the stylized art and segments really add spice to it (especially in parts where the stylized art fits with the jokes/situation/etc.), though I must admit it doesn't always work. *'What's so special about it:' The amount of stylized art used and chibification. 'Nuff said. Also, there are a LOT of 3D shots in the anime, which is a very special thing indeed. *'Pros:' **Good characters **Fair share of heartwarming and funny moments **Stylized art (either love it or hate it) **Truly Awesome songs for OP and ED *'Cons:' **The 3D shots. I hate them. **Stylized art (I DID say "either love it or hate it", didn't I?) **Poor animation **The backgrounds are actually quite poor. **The amount of chibification and longfaces can get to disturbing measures sometimes. :S *'Featured Quote:' **'Yuno:' *sees rotten meal* Ahhh... it's bad! The tofu is really fast so... ("fast" here means "fast to rot") **'Miyako:' Fast? *imagines personalized tofu winning a literal race* #6 - Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Studio: Sunrise) 'Slice-of-Life Anime of Hilarity' Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (The Everyday Lives of High School Boys) is, amazingly enough, EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN. *'What I like about it:' Simply put, this may just be the anime with the power to give you your hardest laugh ever. Enough said. *'What's so special about it:' Funny stuff aside, for me it's the utter normalness of the characters. The 3 main characters (or at least I think those 3 are supposed to be main characters :S) are not superheroes, none of them have any weird powers, none of them are cursed or blessed, none of them are having an adventure, none of them are trying to solve a mystery, etc. etc. Heck, they are not even members of some obsolete club (which KyoAni loves to do) or live in the same dorm (like Hidamari Sketch above)! They're literally just some random guys who just happen to be stupid enough to be featured on national TV and that's it. *'Pros:' **Funny stuff. REALLY funny stuff. **In my version only, but the Vietnamese subber tends to twist dialogues in ways that will either make or break the moments. It's hilarious when it's the former. *'Cons:' **I must admit this is one very shallow show if you're looking for some depth or even just heartwarming moments and not laughs. **Most if not all of the girls are portrayed as brats, I don't like that. **Characters tend to get very sexist and love to talk sh*t about the other gender, male and female alike. **Poor music (the OP song is acceptable but just meh, while the ED song is downright disgusting for me) **Again, I did say that the Vietnamese subber's pranks either make or break the moments, right? It can get quite offensive if it's the latter, though I can see how this is not the case in many boys' POV. *'Featured Quote:' **'Some-MAIN-character-whose-name-I-can't-remember:' *sees novelist girl approaching* (Huh? What's that girl doing here? Trying to make the environment ro-man-tic? No, this is not right, wh...what should I do? Oh baby, don't you know that real men only love males? But now that she's here, I can't hold myself... I... I must say something... this is my chance...). The wind... itches my a**. (WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAY?!!!) #5 - Nichijou (Studio: Kyoto Animation) 'Moe Anime of Randomness' Ok, first, I must admit I absolutely LOVE Kyoto Animation and this list may be quite biased because of it... Nichijou (Everyday Life) is an anime made by the amazing Kyoto Animation (a.k.a. KyoAni) studio about the everyday life of an 8-year-old professor with her talking cat and ultra-human-like, super-customizable android, a seemingly unemotional nerd girl who also happens to be the Queen of Trolls (as in trolling), a yaoi artist, a loli teacher, a hot-tempered girl who can effortlessly use the heaviest of military equipments which she can bring out of nowhere and her literally invincible victim, who's also a goat-riding aristocrat and... yeah, you get the idea,... *'What I like about it:' Well, when you see "Nichijou" in an anime's name, never expect it to be dull. It's just like the above without its cons and added cuteness, more brilliant graphics, more special and likeable characters, some heartwarming moments and KyoAni's excellent choice of music. Seriously, what's not to like about something like that? Also, Nano. Just may be one of the best anime characters ever in my opinion. Besides, I like the short skits format. *'What's so special about it:' Seriously, just re-read my general description and look at the cast, isn't that special enough for you? Also, the best thing about this series is that, as weird as it is, it's still ultimately exactly what it says on the tin: just the everyday life... of some quite out-of-the-ordinary people. *'Pros:' **Funny stuff, again. **Excellent music, both OPs are some of the most addictive music I've heard. **Beautiful art and animation (as expected from KyoAni) **Very special, distinctive characters **Stylized art, but often used the good way this time (particularly in the hilarious reaction faces) *'Cons:' **The comedy is quite hit-and-miss, some skits are not funny at all, or just leave you confused. (But when it's funny, it's REALLY funny!) **Some reaction faces can either look hilarious or disturbing... (particularly Mio's), though I must admit this is a quite minor and petty complaint. *'Featured Quote:' **'Sasahara:' Our everyday life... may actually be a chain of little miracles. The Heavenly Four Ok, the following animes are what I call The Heavenly Four (literally), since they are four animes I'll always keep in my heart as the very best, as they're way beyond everything else (COUNTING the previous entries in this list) in my opinion, they're so good I just had to take screenshots of them myself! Here goes... #3 (Tie) - CLANNAD and Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Both from Kyoto Animation) 'CLANNAD' 'Moe Anime of Tragedies' Well, aside from the 2 animes that made my life below, both of these are just so good I just couldn't choose... CLANNAD (Family) is a legendary production of Kyoto Animation, and I meant legendary, rivaling the ultra-famous Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (which I'd put at #8 if I extended my list) and K-ON!. Contrary to most moe animes, this is one sad black sheep of the bunch, and it doesn't even try to hide it (though it does have some hilarious moments). This is an anime about a pair of lovers who meet a bunch of friends... each with their own personal tragedy which needs resolving, and they finally get into one gigantic tragedy themselves. *'What I like about it:' This is THE most moving anime ever (), yet still manage to put some funny moments in so as not to break your soul, period. Also, whoa, we're really talking graphics here. This is one of the most beautiful (literally) anime you'll ever see, and it was made back in 2007! Because you just don't question KyoAni. To illustrate these two points, just take a look at its second OP, I'm not sure if I've ever heard a song more mournful or seen a more gorgeous AMV in my life. And I haven't even watched its saddest part yet (ok, I must admit I haven't finished it). Also, Kotomi, Kyou, and Mei are just some of the most memorable characters ever, the other characters are very good, too. *'What's so special about it:' First, a moe anime that's actually sad from start to end. Secondly, a moe anime where the main characters actually go into adulthood (instead of just staying in their school age). Thirdly, the ultra-high-quality Illusionary World scenes. Also, you can start to see KyoAni's signature moe art style here. Hard to find them anywhere else. *'Pros:' **Extremely moving and emotional **Great music **Excellent characters, both in their personality and their beauty **Stellar visuals **Beautiful love stories **Still have some hilarious scenes *'Cons:' None *'Featured Quote:' **'Akio:' We didn’t give up on our dreams! We changed our dreams into your dream! That’s what parents do! That’s what family does! 'Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!' 'Moe Anime of Delusions' Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (I have Chuunibyou but I want to love!) is another major production of Kyoto Animation, telling the love story of a Chuunibyou (the "diseases" that gives one the delusion that he/she is some sort of superhero) girl and a previously Chuunibyou guy, along with some of their Chuunibyou friends. >_> By the way, I'm sorry the screenshot above didn't do the anime justice, since I encoded the series with the poor DivX codec (I use H264 later on), which makes it very grainy in PowerDVD. Also, this series has some of the most memorable characters too: Sanae, Kumin, Shinka, Satone, and of course, Rikka. *'What I like about it:' The whole premise is already hilarious enough on its own, yet this series still managed to not be pure comedy and in fact tells a very beautiful love story with some quite moving moments (most notable Sanae's breakdown towards the end of Season 1 and Satone's towards the end of Season 2). Then there's the music, which has some of the most addictive songs I've ever heard (especially the 2 OPs!), and then there's the brilliant FIGHT SCENES, out of all the things, in this moe anime. *'What's so special about it:' As I said, the promise is already special enough. And then there're some of the best fight scenes ever in a LIGHTHEARTED MOE ANIME! Wow... Also, this is personal, but this is the first and so far only anime I'd always go to cine-mode and watch a new episode together with my cousin and best friend, which just adds more to the mood. *'Pros:' **Funny, interesting premise **Stellar, addictive music (seriously, just listen to it) **Excellent, interesting, distinctive characters **Stellar visuals **Beautiful love story **Surprisingly hilarious Chuunibyou fights (well, there's an in-dream fight in the middle of a siesta (day-sleeping) contest and all...) *'Cons:' None *'Featured Quote:' **'Shinka:' I think that maybe everyone always has some kind of "Chuunibyou" you know? But I think we were just caught up in our own ideas of what a "normal" high schooler should be. #2 - Girls und Panzer (Studio: Actas) 'Moe Anime of Strategy and Teamwork' Girls und Panzer (Girls and Tanks) is another exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin anime which took the anime market by storm in 2013 and is in fact still sort of on-going right now (because there's still a game, a major OVA, and a movie yet to be released. It's also the only one in my Heavenly Four that wasn't made by Kyoto Animation, and for good reasons. *'What I like about it:' **Well, where can I start... First of all, the graphics can actually rival even KyoAni's moe masterpieces. The sceneries are beautiful, the characters are absolutely cute, the animations are very smooth, and how everything works looks very believable,... and then the tanks kick in. **That said, the battles were fantastically INTENSE! Despite the cartoonish premise, how it's only a sport, how it's explained that no one can actually be injured blah blah blah, they still gave me some of the best thrills I've ever had in my life. Although I'm usually a pacifist, I can understand perfectly well why "Firing the tank's cannon for the first time is shown to be intensely pleasurable for Saori, Hana, and Yukari" (in the "Does This Remind you of Anything?" entry). Oh, and know what's the most awesome thing about it? They were BELIEVABLE. Everything was sorted out with STRATEGIES, SKILLS and TACTICS, none of those superpowers-that-either-come-from-friendship-or-nowhere bull*peeeeeeeeep*. **Characters. Just consider this: There were like 40+ introduced characters who actually participate in the battles, in only TWELVE episodes, and VERY FEW of them are NOT memorable! **And again, music. Most of the songs (counting Character Songs and such) were awesome (the OP in particular was GLO. RI. OUS!), this being said from someone who's not quite fond of marching music. *'What's so special about it:' **Girls and Tanks. **Like I said above, how everything is worked out realistically using tactics and real teamwork, not superpowers that either come from nowhere right when the "hero" needs it, or from "friendship" or "something to protect" or "chosen one" or some *peeeeeeeep*. **Loads and Loads of Characters, executed extremely well, in a very short anime. **School ships. Just go see. *'Pros:' **Stellar graphics **Awesome music **Great execution of lots of characters **Extremely intense battles **How the battles were believable and were handled with tactics **You can feel the relations between the characters extremely well **Some heartwarming moments thrown in for good measure **Well-researched, to some extent *'Cons:' **Most of Ooarai's victories actually felt pretty cheap. To elaborate: (WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!) ***Saunders only used half of their tanks to battle Ooarai after Kay found out Arisa was cheating,... and that was AFTER Arisa's cheat painfully backfired. ***Pravda gave them 3 free hours to rework their strategies (and scout around, for that matter)... all because Katyusha wanna sleep. ***Despite being overpowered as *peeeeeeeep*, I must admit Kuromorimine just kind of sucks, save for Maho herself. (END OF SPOILERS!) **Ok, Hamaguchi Shirou-sama, I must say you remixed that "Panzer vor!" soundtrack a little too much... not that it wasn't great, but still... *'Featured Quote:' **'Pretty much everyone:' PANZER! VOR! #1 - K-On! (Studio: Kyoto Animation) 'Moe Anime of Music / Moe Anime of Ultimate Moe' K-On! (Light Music!) is an anime about a 5-girl high-school music band. It is KyoAni's second best known anime (after only Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu and was regarded as a masterpiece by many fans, and it was also the reason why I loved KyoAni in the first place. When it was released back in 2010, it was deemed the most moe-moe-kyun thing ever, and that title has, until then, and since then has hardly been beaten if at all. I've mentioned this anime on the Clannad entry, just go back if you missed it. So first, let me get this out of the way: K-On is BORING is looking for a conventional anime! If you're looking for mindless shounen action, or mouth-breaking comedy, or a comedy with all sorts of weird people, or a love story with people not far from that, or tear-inducing tragedic drama, or intense stragetic battles, K-On won't offer it. What K-On does offer though, is... girls playing around in their clubroom. *'What I like about it:' **...which is far from boring. First, I called this the Moe Anime of MUSIC. And after seeing me complimenting the music in other animes so much, what can possibly come up in this spot? That being said, the music in this anime, is not only LEGENDARY, but also quite PLENTIFUL! (Its Music History Box has more than 200 TRACKS!) Granted, they didn't really pick the best ones for the 2 later OPs and the first ED (Go Go Maniac! is only for you if your ear can handle the word "manic", and Utauyo Miracle! is only above average at most), but most other songs are stellar, in the CDs or otherwise. **Ok, now let's get to the main point. For the reasons I stated in the introduction, professional critics gave this anime the worst scores of all in this list. But... there's something about K-On that just can't be professionally reviewed, at least not by applying criteria to it. Sure, they eat cakes more than practice, hardly anything too serious ever happens, there's not really a plot (which I still don't get why it should be a problem with an anime of this kind), the setting is cliché as fu...ehem..."funny" comedies using jokes back in the 60s. But... it's extremely warm and relaxing, and has always proved to be worth the time watching it. It technically has nothing special, yet it has always brought me heartfelt emotions. That's all I can really say on this matter. **One of the best aspects of this anime, and what made it so refreshing, is that you can clearly see the strong bond between the characters. In short, they're best friends. Friends. They are not just allies, not just partners, not just teammates, not just "action friends" so that when one is hurt the very main character will get some overpowered-as-f...I-mean...firing-a-Kill-Sat superpower that he/she can use to beat some villain until said villain becomes like liquid metal in a furnace that can in turn be used to make a trophy for said hero. No. They're friends, and just for the sake of it. **Legendary KyoAni graphics, and the cuteness of the characters. This wouldn't be called the "Moe Anime of ULTIMATE MOE" for no reason! **Most importantly, it helped lighten up my dream (and my cousin's, for that matter). By watching it, I dreamed of establishing a K-On-ish band, with me being the keyboardist, and has kept that dream since then, even though it seems impossible... *'What's so special about it:' The one most special thing about this anime... is perhaps the fact that there is hardly anything technically special at all. It's the utter normalness of, not just the characters like in Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, but THE WHOLE ANIME itself. That's it, why it's so special is because it actually feels like life (note: it IS a slice-of-life anime, so this is a really big feat), and you can always relate to it, in one way or another. *'Pros:' **Legendary graphics, including the legendary moe-ness of the characters. **Legendary music **Refreshing to the max *'Cons:' Putting a con here would be blasphemy. *'Featured Quote:' **'Yui:' KEI-ON DAISUKIIIIII~! Bonus - Love Live! (Studio: Sunrise) 'The Second K-On!' Love Live! - School Idol Project is an anime about a school idol group established in order to attract enough people into enrolling into their school so it doesn't get closed. It was first released in 2013, and its second season is still ongoing. I put it as bonus because I started watching it AFTER making this list, so I don't know where to put it, but it'll be one of my top animes, that's for sure. And about its popularity, I'll just say this: it's currently advertised ALL OVER AKIHABARA (a.k.a. THE Anime Heaven)! At least during last week when I visited it, that's it... Sadly enough, the fact that I call it "The Second K-On!" means the professional critics will also s...eh...satirize it. Bummer. As to why it's called so, well, I found it when I was desperate for a substitute for K-On! Season 3, since K-On! permanently ended, and i must say, it came darn close. It's about an idol group, which is not a music band but is close enough, and the main characters are extremely reminiscent of K-On! For once, Honoka looks and acts like an extra hammy fusion of Yui and Ritsu, Umi bears a strikingly similar appearance and personality to Mio, and while Kotori doesn't look as obvious, watch her for the first few episodes then you'll realize she's a copy of Tsumugi, and look at her a few more times and you'll also realize she indeed looks oujo-like. Even visually it's similar to K-On!, with ultra-moe characters and more-than-brilliant sceneries that can actually rival K-On! itself. The main difference is that it's a bit more colorful. *'What I like about it:' **Aside from all the pros it shares with K-On! (including great music and visuals, cute characters, great show of teamwork/friendship and relatability, you can pretty much re-read the K-On! entry for this), it also has some interesting, distinctive characters, like Nozomi, a Chessmaster-ish Student Council Vice-President who also happens to be a miko who often uses fortune-telling as proof for her ideas, or Niko, who's not, I repeat, NOT a copy of Azusa from K-On! (no, really! No sarcasm). ...who can also somehow be the jerkiest and cutest girl in the group at the same time, as apparent in this video: *'What's so special about it:' For once, the 2D-and-3D-CGI-hybrid music performances, which, like the specialized art in Hidamari Sketch, can be both a good and bad thing. I'll let you judge yourself, while listening to awesome music: *'Pros:' **Graphics rivaling K-On!, moeness included **The music, while not being as legendary, is also comparable to K-On! **Interesting characters **2D-3D-hybrid music performances **Can give you some insights into an idol's life *'Cons (most of them go under "good-bad" though):' **Characters sometimes go off-proportions **The 2D-3D-hybrid performances can be a good or bad thing. **The 3 main characters may resemble K-On! main characters TOO MUCH, for me it's kind of a good thing, but for many people it's not. ** *'Featured Quote:' **'Niko:' (watch again for featured quote): Category:Blog posts Category:Personal